A Sunday School teacher had just finished telling her third graders about how Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb with a great stone sealing the opening. Then, wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, she asked: "And what do you think were Jesus’ first words when He came bursting out of that tomb?" A little girl in the back of the room shot her arm into the air and leaped to her feet and shouted excitedly "I know, I know!" "Good" said the teacher, "Tell us, Jesus first words." Extending her arms high into the air she said: "TA-DA!"
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Ken Kersten)
The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a “TA-DA” event. It has had a huge impact on people of faith throughout the ages. God intended for it to have an impact on people’s lives. He intended for you to know, accept and believe in His son. In a few minutes I am going to ask you to commit your life to Him. Before that time I want us to consider the impact the resurrection will have on a person’s life.
1. The message behind the empty tomb gives new Passion for life. Passion is an important emotion that gives vitality to life. The presence of passion can brighten any life.
Illustration: Last week I read about a Methodist minister who was continually bragging to his Baptist minister friends about the greatness of his church. No matter what they said, he always found a way to claim that the Methodists were better. He had passion. Eventually his friends got tired of this and decided to play a prank on the Methodist. One day they dropped a tablet in his coffee and drugged him into a deep sleep. They took him down to the cemetery, laid him in a borrowed coffin, next to a freshly dug grave. They hid behind the bushes to see what would happen. Half an hour later, the Methodist began to awake. Yawning and looking around, he began to notice the coffin, the tombstones and the open grave. Then he shouted: "Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The day of resurrection has come and the Methodists are the first ones out!"
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Randy Aly)
Look at the Biblical characters in John 20. There was an obvious lack of passion in their lives. In verse 11 we see Mary standing outside the tomb weeping. She is despondent. In verse 19 we see the disciples locked in a room fearing for their lives. They were paralyzed by fear. In verse 24 we find that Thomas had gone AWOL. His name, prior to this event, was synonymous with doubt. However, as you study this chapter Jesus brings life, passion and vitality to His followers. In verse 2 Mary Magdalene runs to the tomb. In verse 4 two of Jesus disciples run to the tomb. As the events unfolded their doubts were removed and that emotional drama became a life passion. In verse 17, after discovering the truth of the resurrection, Mary hugs Jesus in a death grip. In verse 20, after discovering the truth of the resurrection, the disciples were “overjoyed.” In verse 28 we find Thomas making a breath taking declaration of faith. In all three instances you see the gift of passion. Jesus wants to give you and me a passion for life.
Sometimes life has a way of leaking the passion out of your heart. Several months ago I found a wood screw in the tire of my pickup. It caused that tire to slowly leak down. Life sometimes does that to our passion. We need help!
A. The passion for life must come from outside ourselves. The passion and enthusiasm that we concoct will always fail. The apostle Paul stated it well. He said “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The ultimate secret of passion and enthusiasm comes from Jesus Christ.
B. Passion comes from the power of our message.
Illustration: Josh McDowell, a Christian speaker and world renowned Christian apologist, discusses the power of the resurrection message in his book Evidence That Demands a Verdict. McDowell says “All but four of the major world religions are based on mere philosophical propositions. The four major world religions, Judaism, Buddhism, Mohammedism and Christianity, are based on personalities. Of the four only Christianity claims an empty tomb for its founder. Abraham, the father of Judaism, died about 1900 B.C., but no resurrection was ever claimed for Him…Buddhist writings say Buddha died “with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains behind.”… on June 6, 632 A.D., at the age of sixty-one, Mohammed died. His tomb is annually visited by thousands of devout Mohammedans. All the millions and millions of Jews, Buddhists, and Mohammedans agree that their founders have never come up out of the dust of the earth in resurrection.”.
(Source: SermonCentral staff. Citation: McDowell, Josh. Evidence that Demands a Verdict. Page 180. San Bernadino, CA: Here’s Life Publishers, Inc., 1979. Contributed to Sermon Central by SermonCentral PRO)
2. The message behind the empty tomb gives new Purpose for life. As you study John 20 you notice the disciples have found a purpose for which to live. In verse 18 Mary is spreading the news of Jesus resurrection. In verse 20 the disciples are filled with joy.
A. God’s purpose gives you something big enough for which to die.
Illustration: Christian author and activist Chuck Colson illustrates this point. Colson was a part of the Nixon Whitehouse during the Watergate scandal of the seventies. He writes:
Watergate involved a conspiracy to cover up, perpetuated by the closest aides to the President of the United States and the most powerful men in America, who were intensely loyal to their president. But one of them, John Dean, turned state’s evidence and testified against Nixon, as he put it, "to save his own skin" and he did so only two weeks after informing the president about what was really going on! The real cover-up, the lie, could only be held together for two weeks, and then everybody else jumped ship in order to save themselves. Now, the fact is, those around the President were facing embarrassment, maybe prison. Nobody’s life was at stake.
What about the disciples? Twelve powerless men, peasants really, were facing not just embarrassment or political disgrace, but beatings, stoning, execution. Every single one of the disciples insisted, to their dying breaths, that they had physically seen Jesus resurrected body.
Don’t you think that one of those apostles would have cracked before being beheaded or stoned? That one of them would have made a deal with the authorities? None did.
You see, men will give their lives for something they believe to be true. They will never give their lives for something they know to be false.
The Watergate cover-up reveals the true nature of humanity. Even political zealots at the pinnacle of power will, in the crunch, save their own necks, even at the expense of the ones they profess to serve so loyally. But the apostles could not deny Jesus because they had seen Him face to face, and they knew He had risen from the dead.
(SOURCE: Chuck Colson, “An Unholy Hoax?” From BreakPoint Commentaries, March
29, 2002.) Those who claimed to have seen the risen Christ went on to turn the world upside down. Most of them also died for being followers of Christ. People rarely die for halfhearted belief.
B. God’s purpose surpasses the insufficient purposes of life.
Illustration: Some time ago Paul Bradshaw did an interview with Rick Warren, author of the Purpose Driven Life book. Think about what Rick Warren said “People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body—but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act, the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense….We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions, popularity, driven by pressures such as guilt, bitterness or materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?”
3. The message behind the empty tomb gives new Power for facing life. At the empty tomb the disciples and Mary looked through their tears and bewilderment in search of answers. Their best friend had died. Their hope had been shattered. If Jesus was the hope of the world, why did He die?
A. Do we not sometimes feel powerless.
• When we do not have answers.
• When we do not understand.
• When we cannot fix it.
• When we cannot get on top or be in control.
B. The message of the empty tomb is that we have a new power for facing life. We have power over death. A group of school kids reflected mankind’s concern with death.
Some nine year old children were asked what they thought of death and dying.
• Jim said, “When you die, they bury you in the ground and your souls goes to heaven, but your body can’t go to heaven because it’s too crowded up there already.”
• Judy said, “Only the good people go to heaven. The other people go where it’s hot all the time like in Florida.”
• John said, “Maybe I’ll die someday, but I hope I don’t die on my birthday because it’s no fun to celebrate your birthday if you’re dead.”
• Marsha commented, “When you die, you don’t have to do homework in heaven, unless your teacher is there too.” (1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking. Michael Hodgin, p. 100)
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Lynn Floyd)
I have shared with you my first close up encounter with death. I was twenty-one years of age and it came time for my grandfather’s death. I had never lost a close loved one. That thought disturbed me. For months I lived with the dread thought of his death. I did not know what I would do. However, the good news of Jesus resurrection and the impact of that event set me free. Sure, I missed my grandfather after he died. However, the hope of Heaven gave peace to a disturbed family.
C. Not only do we have power over death but we also have power over defeat.
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers” (Rom. 8:35-39 NRSV)
Illustration: We all struggle against defeat. This year LSU played Duke in the NCAA basketball playoffs. LSU pulled a major upset in defeating Duke. Even though I gloated over that victory there was a sentimental side to me. I admire Duke’s All American player, J.J. Reddick. As I watched Reddick walk off of the court with red eyes I could feel for him in his pain. Defeat is hard to swallow. I am so glad that Jesus Christ gives ultimate victory over defeat.
D. We have power over death, discouragements and over doubt. This is illustrated in this chapter. Jesus appeared to Mary, the disciples and to Thomas to reassure them. Thomas displayed an extreme case of doubt as he emphatically said he would not believe unless he placed his finger into the nail prints. That did not phase Jesus. He allowed Thomas to place his finger into the nail prints. Aren’t you glad that Jesus will help people who doubt? He will not cast you away because of your doubts. He will help doubters.
Jesus wants to give you new passion, purpose and power. Will you allow Him to impact you in this way? Will you receive Him by faith?
